BewilderBeasts!

BewilderBeasts!

with: Melissa McCue-McGrath

Join Melissa as she dives deep into the weirdest, funniest, sciency-est ways in which animals intersect at humanity. How is a horse responsible for the FDA? How did fish farts nearly cause bombs to fly between Russia and Sweden? How did a pigeon save 194 soldiers in wartime? Why are honey bees trained to find unexploded landmines in Croatia? Let's find out on BewilderBeasts - where animals intersect at humanity!

Reviews:
July 14, 202400:27:02

Bonus: Butt Science and Twitter Bird Bans

First aired February 2023Twitter bans an ornithological society for posting photos of "woodcocks" while Melissa gets banned for "Hairy Man"; The Media...

July 07, 202400:15:23

Bonus: Ursa Majors

First aired October 2021Fat Bear Tuesday is the culmination of a week-long bracket-style event inspired by mega-chonk bears and March Madness. What is...

June 30, 202400:21:32

Bonus: Great Escapes

First Aired: Feb 10, 2022A series of the best and funniest animal escapes, all inspired by a police blotter where a camel chase was afoot on a Kansas ...

June 24, 202400:12:20

Bonus: Mail Cats?

First aired: August, 2022The Belgian government once used cats to deliver the mail. It went about as well as you would think. Resources for today's ex...

June 17, 202400:30:23

Bonus:Dengue Chicks and the Grocery Store Walk of Shame

First Aired: January 20, 2023This month's bonus ep for you is all about the chickens who give back in rather surprising ways - from keeping 100 tons (...

June 10, 202400:21:54

Bonus: BOTY goes Batty

First Aired: Nov 5, 2021This month, New Zealand's Bird of the Year competition ruffled feathers, as per usual, when a bat took the gold. A look at the...

June 03, 202400:13:16

Bonus: A Monkey Could Work Here

First aired April 19, 2022Let's learn about the time an actual chimpanzee saved the Today Show, and changed morning news-ertainment forever. Resources...

May 28, 202400:29:54

Bonus: Monique

First aired: Nov 26, 2023One man dreams of being completely alone, but it turns out, companionship is human nature. An unlikely meal ticket doesn't ju...

May 27, 202400:14:39

Bonus: A Troubling of Goldfish

First aired Nov. 2022A man recently caught a goldfish the size of a 5th grader and Melissa is waiting for the goldfish food-delivery uprising. Resourc...

May 19, 202400:25:23

Bonus: Methed Snails

First Aired August, 2023: A series of scientific studies to understand the human mind, but using a slimy gastropod in our place. Because using meth on...

May 12, 202400:13:01

Bonus: Monarchy Charlies

First aired: Sept 13, 2022As promised - this week there was just TOO MUCH to put in a main feed episode. The Unkindness episode was really, really lon...

May 06, 202400:23:32

Bonus: Jail Birds

First aired July 28, 2022A bunch of stitchin' women in a Washington Women's Correctional Facility who have put their knitting needles to good use - he...

April 29, 202400:22:09

Bonus: Oh, Canada

First Aired on Dec 25, 2022When a farmer in small-town St. Severe, Quebec, noticed 20 head of cattle broke through a fence during a thunderstorm, he t...

April 22, 202400:25:49

Bonus: Longshot

First Aired June 8, 2022Rich Strike won the Kentucky Derby with 80-1 odds - meaning out of every 81 races, he's thought to win ONE. Well, he won the K...

April 15, 202400:22:14

Bonus: Gettysburg

First aired June 22, 2023: Two sisters combined their love of historically accurate dioramas, the Civil War, and clay-making to pen an ode to the US i...

April 08, 202400:28:46

Bonus: The Dogs Who Mapped Australia

First aired July 2023: In 1912 when the "adventurer" was a job description & also an alibi, two brothers took their dogs on a road trip - before r...

March 31, 202400:15:24

Bonus: Pika Who?

This Patreon Exclusive episode (#2) first aired on August 4, 2021. This is a fun turn I never saw coming, that Pikachu is based on a squirrel and ther...

March 31, 202400:07:43

Bonus: Oh, Evolution

The very first Patreon Exclusive episode was ....super short. It first aired on July 22, 2021. I wasn't sure if it would play or work at all. But, thi...

March 24, 202400:18:12

Bonus: Daddy Shortlegs

Patreon exclusive #6: First aired Dec 7 2021Geneticists made Daddy Shortlegs. (WHY GOD, WHY?) We imagine the Jane Fonda workout with 50' human legs (W...

March 17, 202400:24:00

Bonus: Ukraine's Little Bullet

This Patreon Exclusive Episode first aired May 16, 2022Patron started his life in entertainment by illustrating how dogs can be trained for search wor...

March 10, 202400:19:42

BONUS: Luck o' the Irish Setter

Patreon exclusive number 9: Originally aired March 16, 2022 Let's learn about the only place in Ireland where citizens could get a pint on St. Patrick...

March 04, 202400:40:27

Ep 100: The Center

We close out the series by discussing the humans who dedicate their lives as the bridge between wildlife and education, and a left-hand turn into the ...

February 26, 202400:25:30

Ep 99: Rises and Falls

'We can never have luck without a cat on board' he said. If this were true, the crew would have been better off with a different cat. "The story, abou...

February 19, 202400:19:41

Ep 98: Buzzzzzzz

Bees make one last appearance on the show, this time getting hammered on college campuses to help scientists understand the neural pathways of human a...

February 05, 202400:42:12

Ep 97: Shockoe

Some dogs work to close decades-old cold cases. Others are tasked with finding long-lost burial grounds, shining a light on America's racist foundatio...

January 29, 202400:36:29

Ep 96: The Maine 6

This week we look at Maine's 6 dogs who might just end up on the front lines to save nearly every industry that gives Maine the name, "Vacationland. "...

January 22, 202400:32:50

Ep 95: Zombieland

Starting season 6 off with mind control parasites often found in kitty litter boxes around the world - so how is this parasite endangering monk seals ...

April 24, 202300:30:27

Ep 94: Rock Baby and Baby Jail

In this season finale, we'll catch up with the world's best dad - a 31-year-old bald eagle who wanted to be a dad. I got information from:World Bird S...

April 17, 202300:42:17

Ep 93: Tiger Things

The history of Mike the LSU tiger, the dark reality of meeting tiger cubs, and a new law puts dumb criminals and America's worst behind bars. I got to...

April 10, 202300:25:04

Ep 92: A Wink to the Sky

A farewell to a good friend, and a revisit to the Dolphin who gave up pod life for the people of a small Irish fishing village in Ireland. All show no...

April 03, 202300:20:06

Ep 91: The Well Diggers of Death Valley

When we discuss an invasive species on this show, the discussion turns to the distruction by that species on the environment. But, here is an animal t...

March 27, 202300:29:27

Ep 90: Key Largo Zombie Possums

An unusual team of bounty hunters, biologists, possums, mosquitos, and trash pandas are finally making a dent in the Florida Everglades Python Problem...